Improved lock



UNITED STATES Farmer OFFICE.

HENRY H. ELWELL, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED LOCK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,20, dated July 21,1863.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. H. ELWELL, ot' South Norwalk, in the county ot'Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Locks, and Ido hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in whiqh-Figure l is an internal View of a lock with my improvement applied toit; Fig. 2, an external view ot' the saine; Fig. 3, a horizontal sectionof the saine, taken in the line x x, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severaltigures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of locks whichare provided with reversible latch-bolts to enable them to be applied toeither a right or left hand door.

The invention consists in connecting the inner end of the latch-bolt tothe lever, which is actuated by the hub on the knob-spindle by a pin onwhich the inner end of the latchbolt is iitted loosely, and using inconnection with the latch-bolt thus connected a sliding or adjustablebearing for the latch-bolt, all being arranged in such a mannerI thatthe latch-bolt may be detached from'its actuatinglever by simply movingor adjusting' the bearing, removed from the lock-case, reversed, andthen replaced in the case and secured therein with the greatestfacility.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the case of the lock, which may be of the usual rectangularform, and B the butt, which is operated by a key, as usual.

C represents the latch-bolt, which has its outer end beveled at one sidein the ordinary way, as shown at a in Fig. 3.

D is the hub, which is iitted in the case A, and has two arms, b b,projecting from it. The hub D also has asquare opening, c, made throughit to receive the knob-spindle.

E is a lever which has its fulcrum at d and its upper end bearingagainst a spring, c.

The lower end ofthe lever E has a pin, f, projecting from it, and onthis pin the inner end ot' the latch-bolt C is fitted, the pin f servingt-o connect the latch-bolt to the lever, so that the former may beoperated or drawn within the case A by turning the knob-arbor as usual.

F is a bearing, which is of fork form, and is tted on a guide, G, withinthe case This bearing is placed in such relation with the latch-boltthat it may be shoved over the latch-bolt, as shown in black in Fig. 1,and serve to retain the latter in proper position as it is moved backand forth, the bearing being also capable of being shoved upward., asshown in red outline iii Fig. 1, so as to be free from the latch-boltand admit of the inner end ot' the latter being shoved oft' from the pinf, as shown in red in Fig. 3, and withdrawn from the case, if necessary,in order to be turned around, so as to reverse the bevel a. lf the innerpart of the latchbolt C be sufficiently narrow, it may oe turned withoutbeing withdrawn from the case A. The bearing F may be held up by theoperator with one hand while the other turns the latch. The bearing willfall by its own gravity when the hand or finger is withdrawn from it.The bearing is raised by having a projection, y, attached to it, whichis .fitted in a slot, h, in the side of the case A, as shown in Fig. 2,the projection being notched to receive the nail of the thumb or anysuitable implement. The bearing may have a spring behind it, ifnecessary, in order to prevent it from moving too freely.

I am aware that reversible latch-bolts have been arranged by havingtheir inner ends attached to the lower end ot' the lever E by means of ascrew which requires to be unscrewed in order to release the latch-bolt.This is a rather troublesome operation, and the screw is liable to belost. Besides, the

bolt is liable to work loose on the screw, and the screw also liable towork loose in the lever.

In my improvement the pin f forms a durable connection for thelatch-bolt, and in reversing the latter no screw or any other partrequires to be removed, the bearing F being simply raised above thehitch-boit, :is debearing F7 arranged as shown, or man equivsoribed.aient way, to operate as for the purpose herein Having thus described myinvention, what set forth.

) claim as new, and desire to secure by Let-tors f HENRY H. ELVVELL. i.arent, is-

The connecting of the inner end of the latoh- W itiiesses: bolt C to thelever E by means of pins j', in CHESTER F. TOLLES,

combination with the sliding or adjustzible WM. T. GRAW.

